Word Origin & History

"to crush," 1560s, from Old French esquasser "to crush," from Vulgar Latin *exquassare, from Latin ex- "out" (see ex-) + quassare "to shatter" (see quash "to crush"). Related: Squashed; squashing. The racket game is first recorded by that name in 1886, originally it was the name of the soft rubber ball used in it.

Example Sentences for squashing

I was not,” shouted Stephen; “he was squashing me with his foot, and I moved it away.

I was only squashing in the brim and trying to make the hat smaller.

Your Ma, she say: 'What you doin' you bad boy,' and you answer 'Squashing the angel!'

Squashing the verdict is likely to become a popular feature of the Welsh Assizes.

The villages went off one after another with a soft, squashing noise.

The god swayed, groaned like a thing of life, and toppled over, squashing one of the howling witches—a blind one—like a red bug.

Fortunately for her the milk in the revolving churn at that moment changed its squashing for a decided flick-flack.

The roof broke under his greater weight, and he fell through on his master, squashing him flatter than a pan-cake.

The pike whistled over his head, barely missing, and he was up, squashing the big stone into the face of the other.

It is that of patiently garnering youthful potato-bugs and squashing the accumulated harvest between two bricks.